Arina: The New Cerberus of Devildom
by Moql'nkkn
Summary: Arina was born a few days after Nora jumped into that black hole thing. Doomed to be a misfit, to be feared, this is the story of her life, from birth onwards, and the journey she makes to find the truth about what her true purpose is. T only to be safe.
1. Birth

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

This is a fanfic that occurs after the ninth book. I might be rather irregular in postings, but I'll try to get things up as soon as possible. The thing is, I've written this story a bit out of order, and I need to go back and write some parts before I post the things I have. This first chapter is the only one completely finished so far.

Let me know what you think!

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**Birth**

It was only a few days after Nora had jumped into the swirling black hole when the Dark Liege sensed the new presence in the Elite Area. She had been feeling the magic gathering in that area for a while, but she wasn't sure what to make of it. It wasn't like the magic had stayed there. The only reason it was odd was because of the _amount_ of magic that was going through that area everyday, when there was hardly anyone there anymore. Everybody was mourning for Nora; he might not be dead, but he was gone, and nobody knew where. The Elite Area had always been thought of as _his_ area, and people were reluctant to go there. Even Rivan tended to fish in the human world more often these days.

Today was different. The magic had swirled tighter and tighter, making a ball of some sort. And then the Dark Liege felt the magic become one. There was something new in the Elite Area, someone new.

The Dark Liege knew exactly what had happened; she had felt this sort of thing before. What she couldn't figure out was how it was possible.

Nora was still alive, so how was it possible that another Cerberus had been born?

"Kain," she said hurriedly. "We need to go to the Elite Area. Now!"

"What is it your Majesty?" Kain asked, alarmed by the urgency of her tone. But the Dark Liege was ignoring him, already headed out the door. He hurried to follow her.

She entered the Elite Area and paused. Kain caught up to her and asked again. "Did something happen?"

"Yes," she replied simply. She walked forward slowly, looking around. Kain looked around too, searching for any change. Had somebody broken in?

The Dark Liege used her sense of the stream to find the source of the magic she was feeling. It led her forward, forward...

She finally stopped. There, sleeping under a tree, was a puppy.

Kain spotted it. "Is that...?" He trailed off.

The Dark Liege approached it slowly. It was all white except for it's paws, which were jet black. Even the snakes that made up it's tail were white.

"It's a Cerberus," the Dark Liege said. She reached down and picked it up. It yawned, showing sharp little teeth. It's eyes remained closed though, and it slumbered on.

"Does that mean Nora's dead?" Kain asked, alarmed.

The Dark Liege shook her head. She would know if Nora was dead and she was sure he wasn't. There were two Cerberus' now.

The puppy shifted in her arms, turning around and stretching it's legs into the air. "It's a girl," she noted with some surprise. Girl Cerberus' were rare.

The Cerberus finally opened her eyes. Her eyes were red and gold, like all the Cerberus'. Staring into their depths, she spoke without thinking. "Arina."

"Pardon?" Kain asked, not understanding.

"Her name," the Dark Liege said, suddenly sure that is what she had meant, though she wasn't sure how she knew. "Her name is Arina."

"What do we do with her?" Kain asked.

"We raise her, just like all Cerberus' have been raised." The Dark Liege hesitated, hugged the puppy to her chest, and then put it back down on the grass. She was scared: scared for what happened to Nora, scared of what this new Cerberus meant. She wasn't sure what to think of Arina, or how she should be raised. "This area is now restricted, even to the General Class. Only you or I may enter this area for now. Not even Rivan should be allowed to sneak in—not until we can get her settled, and figure out how, or if, we should tell others about her."

"Yes, Ma'am," Kain said. He cast one long look at the Cerberus before he turned to follow the Dark Liege. She looked so small and innocent now, but so had Nora, when he was little. What would Arina be like? Would she be like Nora, or Deigree, or would she be her own person? Would she be co-operative?

Would she care about both the worlds?

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Questions? Comments? Review, and I promise to reply!

So this is the scene where our main character, Arina, was born. This fanfic will follow her life, from birth to the resolution of the conflict, which you find out about in later chapters. Also, I know this chapter is very short, and I'm sorry. Most of the other chapters are longer, but this one was more of a prologue than a chapter.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Hope you like my story!

Stay Fantastic!  
~Moql'nkkn


	2. Age 1

Disclaimer: Nothing is owned by I.

Well, thank you for the review for last chapter, Qualls1. It was nice to see ^_^

So, if you haven't read the 9th book, I don't want to spoil it for you. However, you should know that Nora has disappeared, and nobody knows where, or if he's alive. The Resistance has been defeated. And Rivan still likes to fish (what, were you worried that would change? silly, of course not)

Hope you like! R&R

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**Age 1**

Rivan was bummed. He really wanted to go fishing—and not just anywhere. He wanted to go fishing in the Elite Area.

He hadn't found it odd at the time when the Dark Liege forbid anyone but herself and Kain to enter the Area after Nora disappeared. He thought it was out of respect for Nora, or something of the sort. He hadn't wanted to go there then anyway. He mourned Nora's loss like everyone else who had known Nora, though everybody hoped Nora wasn't dead. Rivan didn't want to go back to the place that held so many memories.

But it had been a whole year, and Rivan was starting to wonder what it would be like to fish there again. Could he sit with his back to a tree and pretend that Nora was still in the area, perhaps lying behind the same tree? Would Rivan still feel Nora's presence there? It he could, it would be a great comfort, feeling like Nora was still out there.

A year, however Kain and the Dark Liege still guarded the Elite Area as fiercely as they had on the first day. They took it in shifts, Rivan soon learned, with Kain taking over the Dark Liege's duties while she was on guard.

Rivan had tried several times to get in, but every time he came through the transfer gate one of them was standing there, as if waiting for him. Kain would start to yell, and Rivan would get annoyed and leave, usually after trying to get past Kain. When Rivan saw the Dark Liege there he turned and left right away, not giving her the chance to speak. Kain's anger was annoying, but the Dark Liege's was terrifying.

"When do they sleep?" Rivan grumbled at Leonard one day when he was visiting the Tera Tower.

"What?" Leonard asked, completely unaware of Rivan's musings.

"The Dark Liege and Kain! When they're not guarding the Elite Area, they're working! When do they sleep?"

Leonard shrugged, indifferent. "I suppose they sleep in the Elite Area then."

Rivan stood up suddenly, struck with the idea. There must be a time when they slept, he would simply have to find that time. He thought quickly. He knew the Dark Liege was working right now, so Kain must be on duty. And, just in case Kain wasn't sleeping, Rivan could use try using the Tera gate while he was in this tower. The Tera gate was two gates away from the Aqua gate, which was the one that Kain and the Dark Liege guarded the most. If Rivan used the Tera gate, then maybe he could sneak around Kain to the fishing pond. And, if Kain did catch him, he could always some back a few hours later to see if Kain was asleep then.

"What are you doing?" Leonard asked, wondering why Rivan had stood up so suddenly.

"I'm just going to go now..." Rivan said, trying to think of an excuse.

"Well I hope you're going back to your own tower to do some work," Leonard sighed.

"Yeah, that's what I'm going to do, work," Rivan said, heading out the door. Leonard sighed again. Rivan was obviously not leaving to go do his work, but Leonard didn't feel like chasing after him. If Rivan was needed the Dark Liege would send someone to find him.

Rivan wandered over to the Tera gate. He already had his fishing rod over his shoulder because he had taken it with him when he went to visit Leonard. He had originally gone to the Tera tower with the intention of trying to get Leonard to skip work with him, but had gotten distracted.

When Rivan got into the Elite Area it looked desterted. He was surprised at his luck, seeing as this was the first time he tried using this gate; he couldn't see Kain anywhere, but he wasn't going to take any chances by checking if Kain was standing at the Aqua gate. Rivan went down the stairs and into the cover of some trees before crossing over a small hill that hid him from sight of the transfer gates.

He began to loop around to get to the fishing pond when he heard a bark. He turned slowly, wondering if he should dare to hope.

"Nora?" Rivan whispered.

But it wasn't Nora. It was a Cerberus, but it was only a puppy, and it didn't have black ears like Nora did. Its snake tails wagged a little, and Rivan could see that the snakes were white as well, unlike Nora's black ones.

Rivan began to get angry. What was this Cerberus doing here? Was Nora really dead then? Why hadn't the Dark Liege or Kain told anyone?

There was a shout behind him. "Rivan!" someone yelled angrily.

Rivan half-turned, and saw Kain storming down the hill.

"You're not supposed to be here!" Kain shouted. The Cerberus whined a little and flattened its ears to its skull when it heard Kain's tone of voice.

Rivan's anger had not dissipated. "How long?" he asked. "How long did you think you could keep it a secret?" He took an angry step towards Kain.

Suddenly the Cerberus ran forward, biting Rivan's heel. Rivan felt the teeth puncture his shoes, but it's teeth didn't actually puncture the skin. Then it stood between Rivan and Kain, facing Rivan with it's ears back and growling. Rivan glared at it.

"So is Nora dead then? Why didn't you tell anyone?"

Kain shook his head. "Nora's not dead."

"Then how is _that_," Rivan gestured in the Cerberus' direction, "possible? There can't be two of them!"

"Apparently," Kain said, "there can, because the Dark Liege says that Nora is definitely not dead."

Rivan deflated a little with that assuring news. He didn't realize how much of his anger had come from worrying about Nora until then.

"Arina, come here," Kain said quietly. The Cerberus walked over to Kain and licked his hand before sitting at his feet, staring at Rivan in a sort of haughty way.

"Arina?" Rivan asked.

"Her name," Kain explained.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about this?" Rivan asked.

Kain shook his head. "We're not really sure how, or if we should, for several reasons. We're not sure how people would react, mostly. There are still resistance members around, and if they had a point to rally against, it could cause another attack on the city. Plus, we're not even sure how our own people would act; take you for example. You reacted so strongly to her. What if someone else had a worse reaction? What if someone on our own side tried to kill her?"

"So is this why you and the Dark Liege have been guarding this area so carefully?" Rivan asked.

Kain nodded. "Regular soldiers aren't good enough security—you know that, seeing how many times you've sneaked in. We couldn't risk people finding out about her, and we couldn't risk her getting loose."

"Rivan!" An angry voice shouted from behind Kain. The Dark Liege was coming now too.

"You summoned her?" Rivan asked.

"I had to," Kain said. "I wasn't sure who was here when Arina barked."

"Rivan, what are you doing here? This is a restricted area! You are not supposed—" she stopped when she saw Arina at Kain's feet. "Well then," she murmured. "This _ is_ a problem."

Rivan could feel his job slipping away as the Dark Liege regarded him. _This is such a hassle,_ he thought. "I'll watch her," he said aloud, though he was groaning inwardly at the extra work he was volunteering for.

"What?" the Dark Liege said, distracted.

"I'll help make sure nobody else finds out about her—you and Kain need help. If there's three people taking shifts watching her, that means that you guys can spend more of your time doing other things for the worlds."

They were both silent for a moment, and then the Dark Liege nodded and became sweet. "It's true, I haven't been getting enough beauty sleep recently. I swear I'm getting wrinkles; I hardly recognize myself! If you would be such a kind dear and help watch Arina, then maybe I could get myself back to normal! And I'm sure Kain could use the extra rest too, isn't that right, Kain dear?"

Kain simply nodded.

"Well then it's settled! Rivan, thank you. Now, I really must be getting back to running this place. Kain dear, you can figure out when the shifts should be with Rivan now. Ta-ta!" The Dark Liege paused for a moment to lightly pat Arina's head, and then she sauntered off.

"What now?" Rivan asked.

"Well, I suggest you introduce yourself to her, seeing as you're going to be around a lot more," Kain replied.

Rivan crouched down to the Cerberus' level and stretched out a hand. "Hello, Arina. I'm Rivan."

Arina turned her face away from him.

"Arina," Kain warned. "Be nice."

Arina hffed out a breath, but turned back to Rivan and held out a paw daintily.

"You might have to work on becoming friends with her," Kain commented.

_Man, what a hassle_, Rivan thought.

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Yayz for Rivan! 3 he is awesomeness.

Just a note for posting: I have no set schedule for doing so... I just post randomly. For example, this chapter has been ready for about two days, but I only got it posted now. Wow, am I ever lazy-like Rivan! ahahhahalolz

Read&Review!

Stay Fantastic!  
~Moql


	3. Age 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing

It`s a short chapter this time, unfortunately. Still very cute though!

I`m sorry I haven`t posted for a while. I got distracted with multitudes of school work and tests and such. But I realized, wait, some people actually read my stories! I really shouldn`t leave people in suspense like that-it`s just rude. Anyway, I`m finally posting this now. Happy reading!

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**Age 2**

It turned out that getting to be friends with Arina wasn't as hard as Rivan had thought it would be. Arina had a really easy-going nature, so she made friends with him quickly. Rivan spent most of his guard duty fishing at the pond. On days that Arina was hyper she would bug him a little, trying to get him to play with her, but she mostly curled up against his leg and napped. He found it very peaceful, relaxing there with Arina. He enjoyed guard duty; it was like getting paid to do nothing.

It was Arina's second birthday, and Kain, the Dark Liege, and Rivan had all come down for a birthday party. She didn't really understand that it was her birthday, but she was happy that all her friends were there that day.

The day started out with a picnic. The picnic was filled with everyone's favourites—and they even let Arina have some pieces of steak. She was delighted about that. After the picnic they all gave Arina their presents. The Dark Liege gave her the T-bone from the steak (she had wanted to give Arina some nice dresses or something, but Arina refused to have a sealing spell put on her yet), and Kain said that later he would groom her until her coat shined. Rivan gave her a necklace.

The necklace was rather simple. It was made of a bright blue stone Rivan had found while fishing once. The stone was the exact colour of Rivan's hair and eyes. He had drilled a little hole in it and threaded it on a little ribbon, and then tied it around Arina's neck. He made it loose so it wouldn't choke her, but tight enough that it wouldn't fly off while she played. Arina was delighted. She pranced around for a bit, showing it off for them.

"It's so cute!" the Dark Liege exclaimed. Then she sighed, "I wish I had one just like it... but in a different colour, purple maybe..." she glanced at Kain, leaving no doubt in Rivan's mind why she wanted a purple necklace, or from whom she wanted to receive it.

After that the Dark Liege had to leave. But Kain and Rivan stayed and played fetch with her for a while, and they chased her around until she was exhausted. Then, when she was too tired to squirm or be distracted, Kain groomed her. He brushed her fur over and over again, making sure it was all perfectly unknotted and clean, a small smile on his face all the while. Rivan really noticed then how Kain seemed to treat Arina like a little sister. Rivan thought it was nice, not knowing if Kain had any other siblings or not. Arina thanked Kain after the grooming by licking his face, and then she laid back down. Kain left after she fell asleep, leaving Rivan to stand first shift as guard.

Rivan sat leaning against a tree for a long time, watching Arina sleep. It had been two years since Nora had disappeared, and it still felt like yesterday. However, it had been nearly a year since he had met Arina, and it felt like he had known her for a lifetime.

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A little hint of DarKain there, I hope you noticed. ^_^ I really like that pairing. You might see more of that in this fic (or any of my others, unless I take Kain for myself. I 3 him too!).

I know there are readers out there: REVIEW! I MEAN IT! I live for reviews. If I get no reviews, then I don`t do much writing. If you want me to post more often, please review! You may get a dedication in the next chapter!

Stay Fantastic!  
~Moql


	4. Age 3

Disclaimer: Nothing is what I own.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! This chapter is my gift you! ^_^

I'm going away for about a week for a holiday trip, and then school starts up again. This might be the last chapter for about a week and half, not that waiting for chapters is anything new to people who've been following me for a while. But I promise to get the next one up as quick as I can.

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**Age 3**

"Rivan, good, you're here," the Dark Liege said as Rivan entered the room. "I need you're help."

"Of course, my Liege," Rivan replied. "What do you need?"

The Dark Liege fretted, apparently unhappy with something. "Well... you heard about that big base of outlaw demons we found, right?"

Rivan nodded, uncertain of where this was going.

"We think there's something odd going on there, odder than some outlaw demons banding together. We think it has something to do with the Cerberus."

"Arina?" Rivan replied, surprised.

"Well, maybe not particularly Arina. We don't think anyone outside of the headquarters knows about her yet, thankfully. But somehow it's gotten out that Nora disappeared. We think this base is either trying to find him and kill him, or that they have some other plan involving a lack of a Cerberus. We're really short-staffed lately too, so I need your help with this—especially since you know more about the Cerberus situation than anyone except Kain and I."

"You want me to go there," Rivan replied, finally seeing where this was going, cutting through the Dark Liege's ramblings.

"Yes. I need you to go there, but don't clean it out right away. I need to know what they're doing, I want to know every single demon that's involved, and I want to know why they're doing it. I want you to take their organization apart, and give me the results before we destroy them."

"That won't be a quick job, my Liege," Rivan said. "It could take years."

The Dark Liege nodded. "I know, but you're the best person for the job. I trust that you can do it without getting killed."

"When does my mission start?"

"As soon as you're ready. I'll let you settle your affairs and say goodbye and such, but after that... well, you should start right away," the Dark Liege replied.

Rivan nodded and left the office.

Arina ambled over to Rivan as soon as he got through the transfer gate into the Elite Area. "Hey there, Arina," he said, and petted her head. He crouched down. "I don't have time to play with you today, unfortunately." Arina whined a little, sad that he couldn't play.

Rivan knew that Arina probably wouldn't have cared if he had said goodbye or not; she would forget about him soon enough. He was going to be gone for a long time, and she was still young, after all.

"Goodbye, Arina," he said. "I'll see you again... one day."

Rivan got up and left quickly after that. He had to get stuff ready, and he had to find someone to take over as general while he was gone. He didn't have time to stay here and say goodbye to a pup who wouldn't remember him anyway.

Still, he gave one last look over his shoulder before stepping back into the transfer gate, watching Arina, seeing the necklace he gave her still dangling around her neck.

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If you're stumped on what to get me in return for this chapter x-mas present, I would like to say I love reviews (hint, hint!)

Seriously though, you should all review :P

Happy Holidays!  
~Moql


	5. Age 4

Ooh! Bad writer! Not posting for months! Shame on me!

Sorry about the delay, folks. I got really busy, and forgot to update for a long while. I feel guilty about that...

Thank you to everyone who has been waiting for months for this chapter to show up :)

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**Age 4**

Kain was spending the day with Arina, and he had laid out a picnic. For her there was some different types of meat and some vegetables that she hated but Kain insisted that she eat, and for Kain there were sandwiches and fruit.

They had both enjoyed their picnic together, though Arina was still acting strange, as she had been in the last couple of days. She kept trying to imitate Kain.

He held a sandwich in both hands and ate it; she tried to hold a chunk of meat between both her front paws and eat it. He raised his arms in the air and stretched; she lifted her front paws and tried to balance on her two back legs.

Kain decided not to worry about her strange behaviour. Kids did weird things all the time, right? Near the end of the picnic, however, he began to get a little unnerved. Kain had been eating some grapes and she was watching him unblinkingly. He wondered if maybe she wanted one, and that's why she was staring at him. He held one out to her. She sniffed his palm and then nosed his hand so the grape fell on the ground. Then she spend a minute or so trying to pick it up with her paw. In the end she only managed to spear it on one of her claws. She grunted unhappily.

"What's wrong, Arina?" Kain finally asked.

Arina ignored him and sniffed the bunch of grapes again. He held out another to her, and she took it carefully in her mouth, being careful not to crush it. Then, as Kain stared confused, she walked a couple metres away and deposited the grape on the ground.

She stood unmoving for a few moments before Kain noticed anything. Then he felt something odd in the stream, a sort of tugging. He looked around and saw the stream congregating towards Arina.

"Arina?" Kain asked worriedly. "What are you doing?" he started to get up, but then stopped, staring at Arina.

She had begun to glow. It was very soft at first but it quickly built to something more blinding. Kain blinked, and noticed that the light seemed to change shape. Then, almost as suddenly as the change had begun, it was over.

Sitting where Arina had been a moment before was a four-year-old little girl with white hair that seemed to reach down nearly to her knees. There were two little white ears poking up from the top of her head, and two white snakes still made up her tail. She was sitting on her hands and knees, like a dog. Slowly she reached one tiny hand out and picked up the grape from the ground with gentle fingers. She popped it in her mouth and then smiled at Kain.

Kain was frozen in disbelief. Not only had Arina just used a seal spell, but she had done it all by herself. Demons didn't usually master that until they were at least fourteen, sometimes older. She was a decade ahead of her time.

The little girl lifted both her hands off the ground then, balancing on her knees. She seemed to be trying out her new form. She couldn't seem to figure out how to get up though. She looked at Kain then, who was sort of kneeling, one knee on the ground, his other foot planted, about to get up. Then she pulled one of her legs out from under her so she could imitate Kain's position, and promptly fell over. She growled unhappily. Again, she tried to get up, but she still couldn't figure out how.

Kain finally unfroze, got up, and walked over to the little girl. Arina looked up at him and he reached a hand down to her. She blinked for a second before giving in and accepting his help. He gently pulled her to her feet. She looked down for a moment, as if unsure if she could balance on only two legs, but then smiled up at Kain. He smiled back, proud of her. Even if he was apprehensive of her progress, he was as proud of her as any big brother would be when his little sister took her first steps.

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Some of you have amazing skills of prediction, to know what was going to happen in this chapter. But can you guess the next?

Remember to review, especially if you have guesses as to what comes next!

Stay Fantastic!  
~Moql


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